
At One with the Mountains - An interview with Nick Gardner
Issue 6: Nick Gardner and his wife Janet were living an idyllic life on a croft…

A Munro of 980 metres, number 173 of the 282.
Photograph by Damian Kurczyk, via Google
Beinn a' Chochuill is an Argyll Munro, a few miles in a straight line from Kilchurn Castle on Loch Awe.
It stands close to the Cruachan hills: Stob Daimh is about two and a half kilometres to the south-west, and Ben Cruachan itself is under five.
Beinn Eunaich, about the same distance away to the east, is the neighbour it is usually paired with.
West wind to 12 mph, gusting 24
Rain, about 5 mm
Light from 7.53am to 6.17pm, ten hours
A weather model's forecast for the height of the summit, not a report from the hill. Read the mountain forecast the evening before: West Highlands forecast, Beinn a' Chochuill, No avalanche forecast names this hill.
Choose the day you mean to climb.Near or far: the light you will have, and what the summit is likely to be doing.
Under snow and ice this is a different day, with short light and the risk of avalanche. It needs an ice axe, crampons, winter boots and the skill to use them.
The summit is optional. Turning back is the right decision whenever the cloud, the wind or the light say so.
How to call for help in the hills · Safety and skills for the hills · ThinkWINTER
Nobody has written from Beinn a' Chochuill yet. If you were up, yours would be the first.
Were you up? Three words is enough.A free account, a word for the weather and a line if you like.

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For the route itself, take the map and read these.

Stay: About twelve miles from the summit as the crow flies, and further by road

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Stay: Near Oban, about twelve miles from the summit as the crow flies, and…

Café: The Hollow Mountain Cafe, about four miles from the summit as the crow…
Next along: Stob Daimh, Beinn Eunaich, Ben Cruachan, Beinn nan Aighenan. Checked on 10 October 2026. The facts on the car park are Drax's; the forecasts are the Mountain Weather Information Service's, the Met Office's and the Scottish Avalanche Information Service's. Height and position from The Database of British and Irish Hills, v18.3, adapted, CC BY 4.0. This page is not a route description and does not replace a map.